A former deputy Foreign Affairs Minister has dismissed a parliamentary committee’s proposal to introduce 24-hour passport processing, calling it a “red herring” and insisting that major reforms are already underway.
Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, a former deputy foreign minister and MP for Mampong, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been implementing a World Bank-funded passport reform project for two years, aimed at modernising the system and clearing backlogs.
“The passport office was identified as a key area for improvement and modernisation. Amongst the internal reforms apart from digitisation was sorting out backlogs and nearly 40,000 uncollected passports,” Ampratwum-Sarpong said in a statement.
He argued that the ongoing project had already introduced measures such as call centres, courier services, postal delivery, and home visits to address delays. However, he noted persistent challenges due to incorrect contact details and fake information provided during applications.
“The project is already two years and ongoing, so the minister is not coming to do anything new. No reinventing of the wheel. The wheel is already invented,” he said, referring to newly appointed Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Ampratwum-Sarpong also rejected claims that the government was now establishing a Consular Fund to assist Ghanaians abroad in emergencies, stating that the fund had already been set up.
“It is already set up and ready to go. Again, no reinventing of the wheel,” he said.
He added that the operational framework for the fund was in place, with the only outstanding issue being the disbursement of $2 million in seed funding from the Ministry of Finance.
“Praying that the minister, Ablakwa, is able to convince his colleague the finance minister to release the funds,” he said.
The former minister suggested that if the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) had won the 2024 elections, the $2 million allocation would have been included in the next budget, as per the party’s manifesto pledge.
The comments reflect growing political tensions over Ghana’s passport and consular service reforms, as the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) government seeks to introduce new measures amid claims that key policies were already in motion.
Source: Dailymailgh